Electric hair clipper

ABSTRACT

HAIR CUTTING DEVICE HAVING THE CUTTER ASSEMBLY EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE HOUSING AND THE CUTTER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING TWO SPACED ROWS OF CUTTING TEETH PARALLEL TO THE HOUSING. A LINKAGE ARRANGEMENT TRANSMITS THE ROTARY POWER FROM A PERMANENT MAGNET MOTOR TO RECIPROCATE THE CUTTER ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A RECIPROCAL CUTTER AND A STATIONARY COMB. THE CUTTER IS BIASED AGAINST THE STATIONARY COMB BY MEANS OF A LEAF SPRING WHICH IS CLAMPED IN A MANNER TO MAINTAIN A UNIFORM TENSION THEREBETWEEN.

Feb. 9, 1971 B. PALM 3,561,115

ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPER Filed March 29, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Ema FM 1,971 a. PALM 3,561,115

' ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPER Filed Mafch 29, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet z United States Patent O 3,561,115 ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPER Bernhard Palm, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to John Oster Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Mar. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 717,347 Int. Cl. B26b 19/02 US. Cl. 30218 22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Hair cutting device having the cutter assembly extending forwardly from the housing and the cutter assembly including two spaced rows of cutting teeth parallel to the housing. A linkage arrangement transmits the rotary power from a permanent magnet motor to reciprocate the cutter assembly comprising a reciprocal cutter and a stationary comb. The cutter is biased against the stationary comb by means of a leaf spring which is clamped in a manner to maintain a uniform tension therebetween.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrically operated hair cutting devices and, more particularly, to hair clippers primarily adapted for use by professional barbers wherein the cutter assembly has two spaced parallel cutting edges which extend outwardly from the clipper housing.

In giving a professional haircut, the barber normally begins by using an electric hair clipper having an easily detachable cutter assembly at the forward end of its generally cylindrical housing, and the cutter assembly is traditionally angled forwardly and upwardly with the row of cutting teeth extending transversely to the axis of the housing. Inasmuch as it is necessary to cut the hair at varying lengths, the barber frequently changes the cutter assembly since the shape of the clipper comb influences the length of the remaining hair. Due to the overall configuration of the standard hair clipper, the barber is generally using an up and down stroke which requires his whole arm to move up and down with each stroke. After using the hair clipper, the barber does the final cutting with hand operated scissors in combination with a comb. It would be desirable to have a hair clipper which is used with a pivotal motion requiring only the turning of the barber's Wrist. Fatigue of the barber would be further reduced if the center of gravity of the hair clipper is positioned at approximately the center of the pivotal movement which should coincide with the point at which the barber grasps the clipper housing. Furthermore, it would be most helpful if the same clipper could be used effectively in place of the scissors to relieve the barber of this fatiguing and slow operation. A monetary saving would be realized as well as time saved if the clipper does not need different cutter assemblies in order to cut hair at different lengths.

Nearly all electrical barber equipment is provided with an on-olf switch so that the barber does not have to unplug the cord whenever he wishes to stop the device. Since the present invention hair clipper can be used with one hand while the other hand is using a comb or performing some other function, it is advantageous to have the electrical switch operated by the hand holding the clipper and without requiring the barber to change his grip on the clipper housing. Additionally, the actuation of the switch should not tend to move the cutting device forwardly or rearwardly.

By virtue of the nature of a hair clipper, it must be operated close to the customers head and, at times, adjacent to his ears. Therefore, the hair clipper should be quiet in operation in order not to be annoying to the customer. Since gears are generally noisy, it would be advantageous if the linkage between the motor and the cutter assembly were to utilize no gearing and were very quiet in use.

The most important test for a good hair clipper is for hair to be cut cleanly without any pulling thereon. To accomplish this, it is necessary for the clipper comb and cutter to be biased together in order to maintain the correct cutting or shearing relationship therebetween. Consequently, it is mandatory that a simple means be employed for insuring that the cutter is uniformly and accurately biased against the comb.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrically operated hair clipper having an elongated housing enclosing an electric motor which includes an armature or rotor disposed for rotation about a given axis and a stator encircling the rotor. Extending forwardly from the housing is a cutter assembly having a stationary comb secured to the housing and a reciprocable cutter, both of which have complementary cutting edges parallel to the armature axis. Connecting the armature with the cutter is a power transmitting linkage arrangement. The cutter assembly lies in a plane parallel to the armature axis and between the armature axis and the outermost portion of the stator.

The motor stator is made with a permanent magnet and is relatively heavy. Since the stator is disposed at the middle of the housing, the center of gravity of the clipper is also approximately at the same point. In use, the housing is held at its middle, and normally, the housing is pivoted during the cutting strokes. To facilitate the ease of controlling the motor, an on-off switch is located on the housing adjacent to the stator so that the barber can govern the operation of the motor with the same hand that is holding the device and without releasing or changing his grip thereon.

To provide the proper tension between the cutter assembly cutter and comb, a downwardly bowed leaf spring is rigidly clamped between a spacer disposed in an opening defined by the cutter and a fastening member anchored to the comb. The spring is clamped at its midpoint and the ends thereof bias the cutter against the comb. Due to the manner in which the spring is clamped, the spring ends can act independently of each other.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hair clipper which is easily used with a pivotal motion and which is balanced to facilitate the pivotal movement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically operated hair clipper which is quiet in operation.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically operated hair clipper having means to maintain the proper cutting tension between the comb and cutter.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric hair clipper embodying the present invention and which is illustrated with a portion of the electric power cord removed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of FIG. 2 assuming that FIG. 2 depicts a complete structure and showing the drive linkage between the motor and the cutter assembly in a position wherein the cutter is at its innermost position of the cutting stroke;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 except the unit is disclosed with the cutter at its outermost position of th cutting stroke, and the linkage is shown in section;

FIG. 5 is an exploded assembly view illustrating the linkage between the eccentric at the end of the armature shaft and the driven end of the cutter; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary exploded assembly view of the spring and its associated parts for maintaining the proper cutting tension between the comb and cutter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown an electrically operated hair clipper generally designated by the reference numeral 20. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the hair clipper includes an elongated housing 22, a cutter assembly 23 extending lengthwise from the front end of the housing and an electric power cord 24 emerging from the rear of the housing. Preferably, the housing 22 is molded from a suitable electrically insulating plastic material and has a somewhat cylindrical configuration with the forward end having a reduced cross section due to a front chamfered portion 26 and a lower forwardly disposed recessed portion 27. At the rear of the housing 22 is a reduced cross sectional area portion 28. For controlling the operation of the electric hair clipper 20, there is provided an on-off slide switch 30 which is positioned near the midpoint of housing 22 and disposed behind front chamfer portion 26. The slide switch 30 is oriented so that it is actuated by a transverse movement whereby the switch does not move toward or away from the cutter assembly 23. In this manner when the user has the hair clipper in his grasp, he can actuate the slide switch without fear that the movement of the switch will tend to move the cutter assembly 23 either toward or away from the hair being cut. To facilitate the holding of housing 22 by the user, the elongated housing has a small girth and an area of surface serrations 33 is situated on each side of the housing approximately below the slide switch 30 whereby the user can grasp the housing at these areas without the fear of having the unit slip accidentally from his grasp. While any suitable slide switch 30 can be employed in the subject hair clipper, it is preferred that the switch be the same as disclosed in copending patent application Ser. No. 566,150 by the same applicant and assigned to the same assignee.

Enclosed within housing 22 at approximately its midpoint is permanent magnet motor 35 including an armature 36 disposed for rotation about an axis running lengthwise with respect to the housing 22 and a stator 37 encompassing armature 36. Preferably, the permanent magnet motor 35 is the same that is disclosed in the heretofore mentioned patent application Ser. No. 566,150. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the stator 37 has a tubular steel ring 39 and a permanent magnet 40 which is afiixed to the bore of the ring 39. In the present embodiment, a barium sulphite permanent magnet is used, and with respect to the overall weight of the hair clipper 20, the stator 37 is relatively heavy. Since the electric motor 35 constitutes an appreciable portion of the overall weight of the hair clipper 20, the center of gravity of the hair clipper is located approximately at the motor or the midpoint of the housing 22. Having the center of gravity so located is helpful for reducing the fatigue in using the present hair clipper since the hair clipper is adapted for use with a pivotal motion. Normally, the hair clipper 20 is used in combination with a comb whereby the comb lifts up the hair to be cut, and the hairs are severed by the cutter assembly 23 as the housing 22 is pivoted. Therefore, it is advantageous for the user to grasp the housing 22 at the surface serration areas 33 which are approximately at the center of gravity for the unit. As a result, very little effort is required on the part of the user in manipulating the hair clipper, and the motion is imparted to the hair clipper by basically a wrist movement as opposed to the up-anddown arm motion required with conventional hair clippers. It should also be appreciated that the on-off switch 30 is positioned close to the center of gravity of the hair clipper 20 so that the user can easily actuate the switch with the same hand that is holding the unit. Additionally, the switch 30 is disposed so that it can be manipulated by the users thumb.

For supporting and positioning the electric motor 35 within the housing 22 there is provided a member 44 having a plate portion 45 extending vertically or normal to the axis of rotation of rotor 36 and a horizontal leg portion 46 extending forwardly and parallel to the rotor axis of. rotation. As may be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the stator 37 abuts against and is located by the plate portion 45, and armature 36 having a shaft 48 is rotatably supported in bearing 50 which is attached to the center of plate portion 45. With this construction, the member 44 is instrumental in supporting and locating both the rotor 36 and the stator 37. The member 44 is anchored to the housing 22 by screws 52 and 53. The mounting of the rear portion of the motor 35 (not shown in the drawing) may be in any suitable manner or as shown in detail in the heretofore mentioned patent application. Extending forwardly from armature shaft 48 is eccentric 55 which is offset from the axis of rotation of the armature 36.

For attaching the cutter assembly 23 to the housing 22, a mounting plate 57 is secured to the member 44. As can be easily seen in FIG. 5, the mounting plate 57 is formed with a rear notch 58 providing clearance for assembly screw 53 and a front notch 59 which provides clearance for the reciprocating motion of cutter assembly 23. Rigidly locked to mounting plate 57 is an upwardly extending pin 60 which is normal to the rotor axis. Inasmuch as the mounting plate 57 is used not only for mounting the cutter assembly 23 to the housing 22 but also supports a mechanism which requires that the pin 60 be positioned accurately with respect to the armature eccentric 55, the plate 57 is held to the member 44 by two spaced flatheaded screws 62 which determine accurately the spacial relationship between the pin 60 and the member 44. Additionally holding the plate 57 to the member 44 is a roundheaded screw 63 anchored in leg portion 46. However, while the round-headed screw 63 is useful in locking the plate 57 to the member leg portion 46, it is not relied upon for locating these two components.

The cutter assembly 23 includes a relatively long stationary comb and a much shorter reciprocable cutter 71. Formed along the sides of comb 70 and cutter 71 are complementary cutting teeth which define two straight spaced cutting edges 73 and 74. These parallel cutting edges 73 and 74 lie on each side of and in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of armature 36. The cutter 71 is formed with a rear tongue portion 76 which extends into housing 22 and has a shaft 77 rigidly affixed near its end. The comb 70 is secured to the housing 22 at the recessed portion 27 by attaching the comb to the mounting plate 57 by means of a plurality of screws 79. Once the stationary comb is anchored to the mounting plate 57, the cutter shaft 77 is disposed parallel to mounting plate pin 60 and closely spaced to eccentric 55. Furthermore, the cutting assembly 23 is disposed between the bottom of the stator 37, or its outermost portion, and the axis of rotation of rotor 36 to form a compact relationship and thereby provide an easily manipulated and easily viewed cutter assembly. It should be appreciated that the cutter assembly 23, mounting plate 57 and member 44 constitutes an L-shaped assembly which supports and locates the motor 35 and which also extends forwardly from the housing 22.

For transmitting power between electric motor 35 and the cutter assembly 23 and converting the rotary motion of the motor to the necessary reciprocating movement for the cutter 71, there is provided a linkage assembly 80 disposed above the comb 70 and within the housing 22 below the housing front chamfered portion 26. The purpose of the compact linkage assembly 80 is to transmit power from the eccentrics 55 to the cutter shaft 77. As can easily be seen in FIG. 5, the linkage assembly 80 comprises a connecting link 81 and a bell crank 82. The connecting link 81 has a split construction including an upper half 84 and a lower half 85 which are held together by a C-shaped spring clamp 86. Each link half 84 and 85 is preferably formed from a suitable plastic material which has bearing and vibration absorbing characteristics, and together define spherical cavities 88 and 89 which receive bearings 90 and 91, respectively. Bearing 90 receives eccentric 55 and has a spherical periphery which permits limited pivotal movement with respect to the connecting link 81. However, since bearing 90 is of the so-called piped type having tubular end portions, its pivotal movement with respect to the connecting link is necessarily limited. Self-aligning bearing 91 has a spherical periphery which permits considerable pivotal movement between the bearing and its connecting link cavity 89. When the connecting link 81 is assembled together, the upper and lower halves 84 and 85 sandwich the bearings 90 and 91 therebetween, and the halves do not meet so that there is defined a gap therebetween. With this construction, any wear between the bearings 90 and 91 and the link halves 84 and 85 is automatically compensated for by the halves moving closer together under the influence of the spring clamp 86 which biases and holds the two halves together. In an effort to maintain good surface contact between the bearings 90 and 91 with their respective cavities 88 and 89, a centrally disposed opening 93 extends into each of the cavities since it is appreciated that very little wear will take place at the top of the bearing and cavity. If no opening 93 were provided, more wear would occur at the side of the bearing than at the top thereof causing undesirable side play. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the connecting link 81 in its assembled position extends contiguous with member 44 and is normal to the axis of rotation of rotor 36.

Preferably, the bell crank -82 is molded from a suitable plastic and is formed having a somewhat L-shaped configuration. The bell crank has an opening 93 which receives the mounting plate pin 60 so that the bell crank is pivotally mounted with respect to the plate 57. At one end of the bell crank '82 is a horizontally extending shaft 95, as seen in FIG. 4, which is received in connecting link bearing 91 and which has its center at the same elevation above the comb 70 as the center of armature 36. The other end of bell crank '82 is molded with two spaced fingers 97 between which is a bight portion 98 having a spherical surface to receive a self-aligning bearing 99 having a complementary spherical surface so that the bearing 99 can pivot with respect to the bell crank 82. As seen in FIG. 4, the fingers 97 are sufiiciently long so that all forces between the bearing 99 and the spaced fingers 97 are transmitted entirely through their areas of mutual contact. Holding the bearing 99 in operating posi tion is a C-shaped resilient clamp 102. The bell crank 82 is molded with spaced shoulders 104 which are positioned to hold the ends of the clamp 102 in an assembled state. The bearing 99 is located to receive the cutter shaft 77 thereby completing the linkage between the eccentric 55 and the cutter 71. As the eccentric 55 rotates, it forces the connecting link 81 to move transversely with respect to the axis of rotation of armature 36. Since the bell crank shaft 95 is journaled in the connecting link bearing 91, the transverse motion of the link causes the bell crank to pivot about mounting plate pin 60 thereby forcing the cutter 71 to reciprocate in a direction substantially parallel to the armature axis and to move to its outer position shown in FIG. 4 and to an inner position depicted in FIG. 3. The eccentric 55, when viewed from the direction of cutter assembly 23, rotates in a clockwise direction as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5, and this direction of rotation tends to exert a force through connecting link 81 causing the bell crank 82 to move towards the mounting plate 57 because the eccentric in moving from nine oclock through to the three oclock position as seen in FIG. 5 places the link 81 in compression causing a resultant downwardly vertical component of force on shaft 95 and correspondingly as the eccentric moves from three oclook to the nine oclock position the link is placed in tension causing a resultant downwardly vertical component of force on shaft 95. Therefore, with this direction of rotation, no fastening means is necessary in order to hold the bell crank 82 onto the mounting plate pin even when the hair clipper is used in an inverted position so that the pin 66 extends downwardly. A single rotation of the eccentric 55 causes the linkage assembly to reciprocate the cutter 71 through one cutting cycle. Since no gearing is utilized in the linkage assembly 80, the operation thereof is relatively quiet. Furthermore, the use of self-aligning bearings 91 and 99 accommodates considerable misalignment of the linkage components without causing a large frictional power loss.

In order for the hair clipper to operate properly, the cutter 71 must be urged against the comb 70. Additionally, to insure that the cutter reciprocates with respect to the comb 70, it is necessary to have some guiding means limiting the motion to substantially a linear reciprocating movement. To accomplish these objectives, the cutter 71 is formed with a shallow longitudinally extending channel defined by parallel side walls 111 and 112, as seen in FIG. 4. Extending through the cutter 71 in the middle of channel 110 is an elongated clearance opening 115 in which is disposed a tubular spacer 117 that is positioned so that it will not come in contact with any portion of the cutter 71. Extending through the tubular spacer 117 is a screw 119 having a flat head 120 at its upper end, and its lower end is in threaded engagement with the comb 70. Firmly clamped between the screw head 120 and the spacer 117 is a downwardly bowed, rectangularlyshaped leaf spring 122. This spring has a centrally disposed opening 123 through which the screw 119 extends, and parallel sides 124 and 125 of the spring are disposed adjacent to the cutter side wall 111 and 112, respectively, thereby limiting the motion of the cutter 71 to relatively pure linear reciprocating movement, That is to say, the cutter 71 cannot move an appreciable distance transversely due to the engagement between the spring sides 124 and 125 with the cutter side walls 111 and 112. Since the spring 122 is downwardly bowed, spring ends 127 and 128 bias the cutter 71 towards the comb 70. It should be appreciated, due to the symmetry of the design, the spring ends 127 and 128 apply a substantially equal pressure along the cutting edges 73 and 74. One of the significant advantages of the present spring arrangement is that the spring is held at its midpoint by a strong clamping force so that each half of the spring may act independently of the other to efiect equalized pressure between the comb and cutter. Furthermore, it should be realized that the opening 123 in the spring 122 greatly reduces the cross sectional area at this point, and consequently, the spring is very weak at its center. However, due to the clamping force on the spring 122 at the area around the opening 123, the spring is not permitted to distort or bend beyond its elastic limit at this point which distorting could, obviously, have a very detrimental effect on the manner in which the cutter 71 is biased against the comb 70. To reduce the friction between leaf spring 122 and the cutter channel 110, a pliable slick sheet 130, which is slightly longer than the spring 122, is disposed on screw 119 between the spring 122 and the cutter 71. Thus, the sheet 130 is an effective bearing between the spring 122 and the cutter 71. For the purpose of enhancing the visual appearance of the cutter assembly 23, a downwardly bowed cover 132 is anchored in place by screw 119 and covers channel 110, spring 122 and sheet 130. Since the force applied by spring 122 is dependent upon the distance that the spacer 117 extends above the channel 110, it is sometimes advantageous to place a spacing washer (not shown) between the spacer 117 and the comb 70 whereby the top of the spacer 117 is located the proper distance above the channel 110.

The hair clipper 20 is adapted for use by a barber in giving a haircut and can be utilized in both clipping the hair and also to replace the need for manually operated scissors. The hair clipper 26 is normally used in combination with a standard comb wherein the comb is used to lift the hair away from the scalp of the person receiving the haircut, and the hair clipper cuts the portion of hair extending through the teeth of the comb. With this technique, the hair clipper can be used with a pivotal motion of the barbers wrist and, thus, eliminate the normal pumping motion required with conventional hair clippers. Since the present hair clipper is designed to be used in combination with a comb, it is not necessary to have various sized cutter assemblies to govern the length of the haircut. Employing this mode of operation, it is necessary that the barber be able to see the cutter assembly in operation, and for that purpose, the housing 22 has chamfered portion 26 increasing the visibility of the cutting assembly 23. The cutter assembly 23, which extends forwardly from the housing 22, is offset from the center of the housing 22 to facilitate the pivotal motion used by the barber in bringing the cutter assembly 23 through its proper cutting stroke. Since the center of gravity of the hair clipper is substantially at a point where the barber grasps the hair clipper, the hair clipper may be pivoted with very little effort. The overall length of the hair clipper is minimized by having the power transmission means between the permanent magnet motor and the cutter assembly disposed above the cutter assembly.

While there has been illustrated and described a single, preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications can be made without departing from the present invention. It is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An electrically operate hair clipper comprising an elongated housing enclosing an electric motor having an armature disposed for rotation on an axis running lengthwise of said housing and a stator encircling said armature, elongated cutter means secured to said housing near the forward end thereof and extending forwardly parallel with the armature axis, said cutter means provided with a hair cutting edge parallel to the armature axis, power transmission means connecting said armature to said cutter means for reciprocating a portion of said cutter means, said power transmission means disposed within said housing and lying over said cutter means, said cutter means being in a plane between the outermost portion of said stator and the armature, a member having a plate portion which extends normal to said cutter means and in which is journalled said armature, said member being secured to said cutter means to form an L-shaped assembly, said power transmission means secured to said member near the junction between said cutter means and said plate portion.

2. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 1 wherein said housing one end is recessed, said cutter means secured to said housing at said recess whereby said cutter means is spaced slightly above the bottom of said housing.

3. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 2 wherein said housing one end has a reduced cross section enclosing said power transmission means for providing good visibility of said cutter means edge.

4. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 1 wherein said cutter means comprising a reciprocable cutter and a stationary comb which are secured to said housing and over which said power transmission means is disposed, said comb and cutter defining two spaced cutting edges arranged so that one is positioned on each side of the armature axis.

5. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 4 wherein said comb extending longitudinally with respect to said housing a greater distance than said cutter.

6. An electrically operated hair clipper comprising a housing enclosing an electric motor including an armature and stator, a shaft supporting said armature, cutter means secured to the front of said housing and extending forwardly therefrom parallel to the axis of rotation of said armature, a member secured to said cutter means and being provided with a plate portion normal to said cutter means, said plate portion positioning said stator and being provided with bearing means for rotatably supporting said armature, said member and cutter means defining an L-shaped assembly, linkage means connecting said armature to said cutter means for reciprocating a portion of said cutter means, said linkage means disposed above said cutter means and in front of said plate portion, and including an eccentric on said armature shaft connected by a crank arm to a bell crank which drives directly said portion of said cutter means.

7. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 6 wherein said cutter means comprising a stationary comb secured to said member and a reciprocable cutter which is driven by said bell crank by means of an upstanding pin secured to said cutter positioned within said housing, said linkage means disposed over said comb.

8. The electrically operated hair clipper of claim 7 including a mounting plate positioned between said comb and said member, said plate being provided with an upstanding pin on which said bell crank is mounted, the rotation of said armature being in a direction that it forces said linkage means toward said plate.

9. In an electrically operated hair clipper comprising an electric motor armature adapted to rotate on a given axis, cutter means including a portion adapted to reciprocate in a plane parallel to said axis, said armature provided with an eccentric facing towards said cutter means, said clipper having means supporting a stationary pin which is normal to said reciprocating plane, a bell crank pivotally mounted on said pin one end of said crank being in driving engagement with said portion of said cutter means and the other end defining a stud extending away from said cutter means, and a connecting link between said eccentric and said stud whereby the single rotation of said armature causes said portion of said cutter means to reciprocate through one cycle.

10. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 wherein said bell crank one end being formed with bifurcated fingers in the bight portion of which is disposed a self-aligning bearing adapted for engagement with said portion of said cutter means, means biasing said bearing into said bight portion, said fingers being sufficiently long so that all the driving force between said bearing and said fingers is transmitted solely through the engagement therebetween.

11. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 10 wherein said crank is formed with spaced shoulders, said biasing means comprising a U-shaped clamp whose ends are adapted to lock with said crank shoulders so that the bight portion of said clamp biases inwardly said bearing between said fingers.

12. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 10 wherein said portion of said cutter means including 9 a reciprocable cutter having at its end nearer said crank an upwardly extending pin which is pivotally received within said self-aligning bearing whereby the pivotal movement of said crank causes said cutter to reciprocate.

13. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 wherein said connecting link is provided with a first self-aligning bearing at one end thereof in engagement with said bell crank stud and is provided with a second bearing at the other end which is attached to said eccentric i 14. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 13 wherein said connecting link having a split construction formed by two halves with said bearings sandwiched therebetween so thata slight gap is established between said split halves, spring means biasing said link halves together for holding said halves in assembled relationship and compensating for wear between said halves and said bearings. 3

15. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 including a self-aligning bearing between said connecting link and bell crank stud and between said bell crank one end and said portion of said cutter means whereby said connecting link and bell crank can move with a minimum of binding friction therebetween.

16. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 wherein said portion of said cutter means including a cutterhaving an upstanding shaft which is parallel to said stationary pin and which is in engagement with said bell crank one end, said shaft being closely spaced to said eccentric whereby the space occupied by said crank and connecting link between said electric motor armature and cutter means is relatively small.

17. In an electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 wherein said pin and said bell crank are positioned with respect to said armature axis so that the rotation of said eccentric by said motor maintains said befll crank from coming 01f said pin.

18.- In an electrically operated hair clipper of claim 9 wherein said connecting link is movable in a plane substantially normal to said reciprocating plane and said bell crank is pivoting in a plane parallel to 'said reciprocating plane.

19; In an electrically operated hair clipper comprising a housing enclosing an electric motor including a rotor adapted for rotation about its central axis, a cutter assembly secured to said housing and extending forwardly therefrom parallel to said axis, said assembly including a stationary comb and a reciprocable cutter in overlying relationship both of which are provided with complementary side cutting edges, linkage means between said rotor and said cutter whereby the rotary motion of said rotor causes said cutter edges to reciprocate in a direction parallel to said axis, said cutter defining a clearance opening between its side cutting edges, a spacer and fastening means being disposed within said cutter opening, a downwardly bowed elongated leaf spring rigidly clamped near its midpoint between said spacer and fastening means whereby the ends of said spring bias said cutter into good cutting engagement with said comb and said spring ends can act independently of each other, said cutter is formed with a channel extending in the direction of cutter reciprocation, said spring having parallel sides which coact with said cutter channel to guide said cutter, said cutter clearance opening being sufficiently large so that no contact is made with said cutter by said fastening means and spacer.

20. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 19 including a thin, smooth pliable member between said spring and saidspacer and extending under both ends of said spring thereby reducing the friction between spring and said cutter while said cutter is reciprocating.

21. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 20 including a cover being held in a stationary position by said fastening means and covering said spring and said member so that they are not outwardly visible.

22. In the electrically operated hair clipper of claim 19 wherein said spring defining an aperture through which said fastening means extends, said aperture being sufficiently large so that said spring has a relatively small transverse cross sectional area at said aperture, the area of clamping between said fastening means and said spacer on said spring being sufficiently large to prevent the bending of said spring beyond its elastic limit at said small cross sectional area.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 548,189 10/1895 Gillette 30218 1,858,887 5/1932 Dremel 30--2l6 2,275,180 3/1942 Holsclaw 30210X 2,293,637 8/1942 Bourque 30---2l6 3,083,456 4/1963 Marchant 30210 3,372,481 3/1968 Skinner 30-2l0 3,395,704 8/1968 Frey 200-157X 3,431,647 3/ 1969 Scott 30220X FOREIGN PATENTS 411,879 4/ 1910 France.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner I. C. PETERS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 30-222 

